misaligned

jumping from her chair as she heard the grating sound of metal upon metal, angela reached the window of her cottage on the south downs in time to see a vision that had only appeared possible as a theory in her mind, not something to happen in real life. there was perhaps one #train a day this far out from civilization, two at the most but never running at even similar times. the collision between two, one obviously a passenger #train and the other a flaming mess of burning liquid, was something that she could not understand, believing her eyes or not. running through the door into the snow hanging limp in the air, she called out to her sister without even thinking that she had left for the weekend and could certainly not hear her from her hostel in amsterdam. angela pounded one step after another in the direction of the flames, #fire pouring high into the darkening sky. how could this have happened? there is not another cottage for #miles. by the time anyone else sees the #smoke or expects the #trains to arrive, it will be too late for the passengers.

she reaches for her mobile, punching three nines and send, not noticing at first that she has no #signal. swearing loudly she tries a second and a third time to call for help without success. even out here there is typically at least passable #signal. could the #train have damaged the lines? is the #fire disrupting the #signal? is any of that even possible? a simple girl of sixteen, angela had no idea other than that she must find a way to help.

frozen in her steps, she realized two things almost simultaneously. there is only one line of track for #miles. no switches, no junctions, no lay by, no extra track. two #trains running toward each other on the same line would have had to do so for more #miles than she could imagine. how could they not realize this? and there are no #people. no screams. not a single person running. simply #fire and #smoke. how could a full #train of #people simply have vanished? where are the #people driving the #train?

angela stopped dead in her tracks. she was supposed to have been in amsterdam with katie. they talked on the phone about it. it was only at the last minute that she felt too sick to fly and said she would come the next time. but she did that in person.

this was planned. why here? isolation? but why crash two #trains together?

the #fire. what is it? why does it smell like almonds outside instead of #smoke?

the thought rushed through her head as she felt herself hit the ground, eyes still open looking at the sky where in the distance she would have sworn she could see a helicopter just over the horizon. suddenly, blackness.